Artificial stoneware.



R P. OSBORN & J. ROACH.

ARTIFICIAL STONEWARE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 1. 1910 Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Brennan F.

Ossona AND JOHN RoAcH, oF INSWORTR NsBnAsKA, AsstoNoBs or ONE-THIRD ro ALBERT A. RADTKE, A0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AHTIFXCIAL STNEWBE.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 14, 1913.

origami application and Ma'y v, i910, Serna No. 559,943. Divided and 'this application aim July 1, '1910. sentano. mesa.

To fx1/l l1/mm it 'may concern:

lic it known that wc, RICHARD F. OsnonN and .tous ltoacu, citizens of the United Suites, wth ics-hline; at. Ainsworth, county of Brown. State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ain titicial `Stoneware, which the following is a specification.

The present application is a division of our application No. 539,943, filed May 7, hun.

In Brown county. Nebraska, and in other places, there may be found large deposits of a dry. gritty sand, having a chemical composition approximately as follows: Silica 93.747?, oxids ot' iron 2.13%, oxid of alumina 1.3527), calcium oxid .56%, sulfate of lime. trace, magnesium oxid l.03%, com# liiaed moisture .72% undetermined The main object ol the present invention is to produce from this sand, and from sands oi' a similar composition. an artificial stone war-f. very porous in its structure, but strongr and coherent.

"the material embraced by thc present invention very refractory in character, and has low lit-at coml1u'ii.'ity. and may be used for building pu'rg'ioscs, as in the form of brick. luiildincr blot-its. and the like, or it can he made iu the shape of drainage tile and tiltcr blocks. herein its great porosity is of advantage in allowingY the ready pas sage of water.

in the process herein described, the sand is ntade into coherent bodies without the use of moisture or the aid of pressure` and with-- ont thc addition of any binding agent or any Hurting medium.

An apparatus wherein the process may be eitectcd is shown in the accompanying' drawings. in whichpassage through the furnace. Fig. f5 is a transverse sect/lon of the mold shown in Figi. 2.

The furnace shown in the drawingr coupriscs a carlton resistance tube l, mounted in a bricl-.\.\'orl 2A and t u'txrcd hy a Vrefractory packing 3 ot magi'iefsia or other heat instr lating material. The 'carbon tube is provided at'its ends with Awatercooled copper terminals 4 and 5 of ordinary type, to which current of suitable ouantity and voltage' may be delivered throughconductors and 7. At the. inlet end of the'resis'tanoe tube is an iron chamber 8, serving to exclude air from the tube, and aiording' means for 'conveyingr the objects to beheated into the carbon tube; This chamberl 8 may have ay tubular inlet 9, thoughwhich an inert gas maybe supplied tozthetarbon'tubc to lessen the ydanger of chemical actiontherem.' of the carbon'tube is an iron the other en chamber 10, into which the heated objects may be expelled after their treatrehthasl been completed. Through this heated carbontube may be passed a series of refractory'boats or molds containing sand to be subjected to the sintering action of the heat maintained by the tube. The exact shape'of these molds will depend on the shape of the product to be produced, but for producing rectangular bricks. the molds may be of the kind shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These molds are of carbon with a rounded bottom to tit the. general contour of the heating tube, and with a rectangular recess 12, open at the top, and serving as a receptacle for the dry sand. Spacing blocks 13 of lavite or other inert refractory material. may be used to separate one carbon mold from another.

The operation of the apparatus is as fol lows: Dry sand, of about the compositiolr above indicated, is introduced into the cai`-1 hon molds, and these molds are pushed into the furnace, one after another, with insulat` ing blocks between, and are there subjected to a heat high enough to sint-er the particles of sand into a coherent body having the general shape of the mold. The temperature should not, however, be sufcient t0 fuse the sand, or to cause any appreciable flow. The molds. with their contents, are ultimately pushed through into the oiutlet chamber 10, from which they may be removed,

The electric tube furnace, when used as a h ating means, offers the advantage that the temperature can be closely regulated, and thc further advantage that the heating ot' the sand and its mold goes on in an inert environment, thereby obyiatino` the danger of oxidizing the molds. a

Artificial stoneware produced` as herein described is about like irebrick in'its power to resist heat, but is much more porous than irebrick. Because of this porosity, it has a much lower heat conductivity. Also, its porous structure gives to it a certain tougl1- ness and power to resist shock and localized pressure. Under a magnifying glass, this articial stoneware seems to consist of the original sand particles merely joined together at their points of contact, leaving the' original interstices altogether open. It is this highly porous character of the material which renders it serviceable for use as filter blocks, and as drainage tile and the like.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1s:

1. An artificial material of great porosity which is vitreous and anhydrous and otherwise adapted for use in the construction of drainage tile, said material being uniform and coherent in its physical structure and consisting solely of coarse native sand particles sintered together at their points of contact one with another and free from traneous fluxing material, 'the @riginal terstif-es of the body of sand remaining.` to form sinuous water channels fri the structure porosity and teugiine material comprising abeut per hydrous silica.

2. Artificial building blocks which cm entirely of native coarse sand partie tered together at 'their peints of Contact with another to form a coherent struc the original interstiees 0f the body of an.. remaining open to form sinuous cbanneis and giving porosity to the structure, material comprising about 93 per cent, air hydrous silica and being free from extraire l ous binders or fluXers.

In witness whereof, We have hereunte eet our hands this 25th day of June, A. D', i921 RICHARD F. OSBORN. JOHN ROACH.

Witnesses `JVM. SoU'rHwELL, HILDEBERT SOUTBWELL. 

